Understanding Retainer vs Retired

Understanding Military Retirement Eligibility and Conditions

Military retirement differs significantly between branches in terms of eligibility and conditions. Here’s a guide to how retirement works across different branches and what it entails.

Retirement Eligibility in Different Military Branches

Army, Air Force, and Coast Guard:

Members of the Army, Air Force, and Coast Guard are eligible to retire after completing 20 years of military service. This standard provides a straightforward pathway to retirement after two decades of service.

Navy and Marine Corps:

The retirement system in the Navy and Marine Corps is slightly more complex:

• Enlisted members with more than 30 years of service are classified as retired.
• Warrant officers and commissioned officers need at least 20 years of service to retire.
• Enlisted members who have over 20 but less than 30 years of service are transferred to the Fleet Reserve (Navy) or Fleet Marine Corps Reserve (Marines) and receive retainer pay rather than retired pay.
• Once they complete 30 years of service, including time receiving retainer pay, they officially enter retired status and receive retired pay.

Retainer Pay versus Retired Pay

Legally, retainer pay and retired pay are treated the same. Those in the Fleet Reserve or Fleet Marine Corps Reserve receive retainer pay, which is equivalent to the retired pay they would receive once officially retired.

Recall to Active Duty

The concept of being "unretired" or recalled to active duty is more prominent in the Navy and Marine Corps, which use the term “retainer” to imply readiness to return to active service. This can happen under certain circumstances:

• Category I: Nondisabled retirees under 60 who have been retired for less than five years.
• Category II: Nondisabled retirees under 60 who have been retired for more than five years.
• Category III: Retirees aged 60 or over and those retired due to disabilities.

Retirees can also be recalled to face court-martial charges, although this is rare and typically, the civilian justice system handles such cases.

Retirement Versus Discharge

Unlike civilian retirement systems, military retirement does not involve vesting. You must complete the requisite number of service years honorably to qualify for retirement pay. Even one day short of 20 years, without specific early retirement provisions, disqualifies a service member from receiving retirement benefits. The discharge must also be characterized as honorable to qualify for retirement benefits.

This overview provides clarity on the military retirement process, highlighting the variations between branches and the conditions under which service members can retire or be recalled to active duty.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are the specific early retirement provisions?
   The article mentions that being one day short of 20 years disqualifies a service member from receiving retirement benefits unless there are specific early retirement provisions. Users might want to know what these provisions are, under what circumstances they apply, and which branches of the military they pertain to.
2. How are disability retirements handled?
   While the article briefly mentions retirees who are "retired due to disabilities" under Category III for potential recall to active duty, it does not detail how the process for disability retirement works, what qualifications need to be met, and how benefits might differ from standard military retirement.
3. What benefits are affected by the type of discharge received upon retirement?
   The article notes that the discharge must be characterized as honorable to qualify for retirement benefits, but it does not specify which benefits might be impacted by different types of discharges (e.g., honorable, general under honorable conditions, etc.). Users might be interested in how these different discharges affect their eligibility for specific retirement benefits, such as healthcare, GI Bill, or survivor benefits.